More than €7 million has been lost by victims of romance fraud in the past five years, with some scammers taking victims for hundreds of thousands of euros.
Of the 245 victims that have come forward to An Garda Síochána since 2020, the majority were female and their average financial loss was €28,500.
The highest reported loss by a female in Ireland was over €450,000 stolen in 18 transactions, while one male victim had more than €380,000 taken.
Typically, fraudsters use someone else’s photos to set up a fake profile on dating apps and online dating sites to scour through profiles to identify potential victims who they will then target and groom over a sustained period in an effort to extract their money.
Their profile usually depicts a person who has a responsible job but is most often fictitiously based in a location which makes them unable to travel or move freely, and has poor phone network or internet connection.
They’ll match or connect on the dating app and quickly encourage their victim to move to a messaging app or email. They’ll say all the right things because they follow prepared scripts.
Their background may seem legit – they will usually claim to have been married and now widowed or divorced, have grown-up children and be seeking a platonic relationship but that is all part of the ploy.
The requests for money start small and in some instances if these initial asks are provided for by the victim, they will be repaid so as to build trust. The fraudster will have more than one victim at any given time.
In time, the requests will increase in amount and before a victim necessarily realises it they’re being pressured to pay anything from essential medical bills and customs duties, to purchasing flights and Visas.
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau said, “A victim will be made believe that they have met their perfect match online, but are in fact being terribly deceived.”
“It becomes a huge invasion of privacy and a breach of trust which can impact your whole view of people and the possibility of romance, but it’s important to remember that this fraud, and it is a crime.”
On occasion, these requests for dig-outs can become an investment pitch – with the fraudster claiming to have a great financial opportunity which often involves Crypto.
They will encourage their victim to invest on the basis that they will make a quick profit, and the fraudster will even go so far as to provide all the expertise to facilitate the transaction(s).
The most common conclusion is that a victim will begin to start asking questions of their money and when it becomes apparent that it has been stolen, the fraudster will cut contact and block them.
Once reported, the investigation into these crimes will usually indicate that the victim’s money has been transferred to a bank account, Crypto account or what is known as a ‘Cold Storage Wallet’ or a ‘Cold Wallet’ outside of Ireland.
“It is often the case that a victim’s money is transferred overseas to fund organised criminal activities such as terrorism, human trafficking, people smuggling and even corruption.”
“An Garda Síochána work closely with both Europol and Interpol to disrupt those involved in fraud of this nature as part of our investigations into romance scams.”
“If you have previously been or believe that you are a victim of a romance scam, please speak with us at any Garda Station. This can very easily happen and no one should feel embarrassed, we are here to help and will treat every report in confidence.”
